The Feast of Christ the King (Lk. 23:35-43) “Playing it Safe?”

          Save yourself.  We often hear that message in our modern world.  Insurance companies scream out that idea from our television sets.  We are told we are just one catastrophic event from financial ruin, so we need to protect ourselves by having insurance.  Medical advertisements tell us what medications to take so that we can protect ourselves from disease. Save yourself. Save yourself.

               Jesus heard that message in the last hours of his life several times.  When Pontius Pilate was deciding what Jesus’ fate would be he asked in John 19:11, “Do you not know that I have the power to save you or crucify you.”  The soldiers who crucified Jesus taunted him with a challenge.  “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.”  One of the criminals who died on a cross beside Jesus tempted him as well, saying, “Are you not the Christ? If you are, save yourself and us.”  But Jesus wouldn’t do it.  He declined to use his divine privilege to avoid death.

               Why?  One strain of Theology would say that he had to sacrifice himself for our sins. Now that is a legitimate way to look at Jesus’ death. But there is another way to look at it which would be that Jesus wanted to show all of us how to die.  Jesus had preached about many things.  He had told people to trust in God.  He had talked about redemptive suffering. “If you want to be my disciple, take up your cross and follow me,” he said more than once.  If Jesus would have chosen to avoid his cross what kind of message would that have sent.

               Integrity was valued above all else in the ancient world.  A story was told once about Secundus the Silent.  The philosopher had made a vow never to speak.  The Roman emperor Hadrian decided to test him.  He demanded that Secundus should speak or he would be put to death.  Secundus refused.  Hadrian sent him off to be executed.  But he gave the man who was going to execute Secundus special instructions. “If he tries to persuade you to spare his life cut off his head. If he remains silent in the face of death spare him.” Death tests our values more than any other experience.

               In Christian Theology there is a concept called memento mori.  Memento mori is a special type of Spirituality.  It is a practice of meditating on our own death.  Many of the great saints practiced this spirituality.  St. Benedict, in his rule urges his monks to “keep death daily before their eyes.”  St. Francis of Assisi spoke of “Sister Death” seeing her as a doorway into heaven.  St. Jerome kept a skull on his desk as he did his life’s work of Biblical translation.  The skull reminded him that time was fleeting.  St. Elizabeth of Hungary who was a Queen known for her great charity kept the money she gave to the poor in a coffin in her room to remind her that her possessions were worthless when her life was over.

               Memento Mori can seem like a morbid practice to the weak in faith, but it can be transformative.  When we focus on eternity we can get our priorities in order.  If we think about the limits of our time on earth, we can realize that we want to grow in virtue each day.  Contemplating death can lead to a joyful anticipation of eternal life. Life on earth is temporary while eternal life is the ultimate goal.

               The powerful people who executed Jesus believed they had ended the life of “The King of the Jews.”  For them Jesus’ death showed that he was a fake.  He wasn’t the Messiah.  Christians might have despaired at first but then came the glory of the Resurrection.  Jesus conquered death he took possession of his eternal kingdom. He refused to save himself.  He showed what it means to lose one’s life to save one’s life.  He gave us an example of what it means to live an authentic human life.  He shows us, in the end, what it really means to save oneself.